Tuesday, March 14, 2017

The backdoor remains ajar, and the regulations deregulated.

By Steve Fly

'...regulate so that crops are under the control of the Dutch Food Safety Authority state'

"who regulates the regulators?"--Anonymous.

The ongoing debate surrounding Dutch coffeeshops, as you might expect has ignited in 2017, an election year in Holland. This article attempts to summarise, and make sense of the different questions, and the various different answers proposed by politicians, regulators and coffeeshop owners, in unbiased and fair language. Cough cough.

There are a number of recurring themes and buzz words used in the debate, often stylized and sexed up by different reporters and various news outlets. These include, but are not limited to different degrees of regulation on both the cultivation of the cannabis sold in coffeeshops, and the so called 'back door' paradox, whereby it is technically illegal to bring cannabis into the coffeeshop. Technically. Technically?

Currently the Dutch authorities, in different municipalities exorcise various degrees of tolerance toward coffeeshops and the activities they engage in. This tolerance is difficult to describe, like Zen, or a meme, and to understand can be a real pain in the butt for those from other countries and cultures and, i think, makes up for a large part of the confusion often associated with coffeeshops and their legality. Add to this the coalition model that makes up the Dutch parliamentary system, and you can begin to see the complexity of the puzzle. M.C. Escher could see it, and share the vision.

The main points of debate, however, can be broken down into binary terms, i hesitate to say. For example. new laws to regulate cultivation, or for it to remain unregulated without laws? And new laws to regulate the 'backdoor supply chain', or, for it to remain an unregulated enigma? Another binary debate concerns the more general question of keeping coffeeshops open, or closing them all. And by extension to this question, should coffeeshops become private members clubs requiring a 'weed pass' or continue to be open to anybody with I.D proving they are over 18 years old, and, so long as long as the coffeeshops abide by the strict controls enforced on them by the authorities. Lots of questions.

The successful experiment with cannabis coffeeshops in Holland, successful based on a fall in 'hard drugs consumption' and 'drugs related crime' in Holland, leads by example in this debate. 'If it’s not broke why fix it' is a common argument here, based upon comparing statistics with surrounding countries, who still enforce the laws on scheduled substances that include cannabis, yet show higher rates of serious drug addiction and drug related crime.

There are those who wish to close all coffeeshops and those who wish to keep them open, and those who want to allow new coffeeshops to open. Those who wish to increase regulations but keep them open, and those who wish to impose regulations as a stepping stone to the closure of all of them. Those who want to legalize recreational use in separate municipalities, and those who wish to legalize country wise, and those who wish to re-criminalize, increase the punishments associated with cannabis. And each of the individuals putting forward these various positions has their own nuance and methods for strengthening their argument, and weakening that of their political opponents. This kind of dialectic has come to define political debate all over the place, and due to the coalition government in Holland the bong water can seem to be getting murkier and murkier. Free the weed!

I hope these quotes help shed some light. Forgive my opinionated introduction. I felt it best to write what i thought without much editing

--Steve Fly

14/03/2017
Amsterdam

D66:
'Vera Bergkamp sees the bill as a step toward legalization, she told Steven Kompier Cannabis News Network. Bergkamp: "We're going to get it right, with a baseline, see how that goes. And when we can show that it is better for public health, public order and security, then the step to possibly legalize, although that step right now is a very big one.'https://www.rollingstoned.nl/na-de-wietwet-wat-gebeurt-er-met-thuisteelt/

MAYOR ROLE:
The mayor will have an important role not only determines who is allowed to grow, but also what the maximum stock of a coffee shop and "may also designate one or more repositories for storing the stock market." The Minister of Justice decides whether formal or professional breeder tolerated and is not prosecuted as long as the criteria are met. The law will be evaluated after periods of three and five years. -- https://www.rollingstoned.nl/na-de-wietwet-wat-gebeurt-er-met-thuisteelt/

OPIUM ACT - TOLERANCE
'And no, he says, it is not just a semantic difference. Under regulation, the municipality would have to grant a license stating that the weed grower is relieved of the Opium Act, and is therefore not punishable. By tolerating, the producer remains punishable but, he avoids prosecution if he meets the conditions of the tolerance decision. "It's the same tolerance construction already applied to the front door, so parties can be hard against it. Unless they are also against tolerating coffee shops. "--https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2017/02/13/nederlandse-oplossing-voor-een-nederlands-probleem-6677476-a1545886

SMARTER REGULATION?
'There Bergkamp hopes on the support of the VVD, which already has shifted sharply in recent years, mainly driven by Southern VVD and youth organization JOVD.
There was nothing about adapting the policy on cannabis cultivation in the draft election program of the VVD. But a motion was adopted at the party congress in November to adjust the program. Now does it say that the VVD wants to put an end to the "strange situation" that the sale of cannabis is tolerated indeed, and not purchasing. That the VVD says, we have "smarter regulation".--https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2017/02/13/nederlandse-oplossing-voor-een-nederlands-probleem-6677476-a1545886

BACK DOOR
'patrons may soon only be able to buy weed in legitimate businesses that are allowed to grow. However, this provision is not immediately going to enter into the force of the Law. D66 wants to include a transition period in the law; while stocks of legally grown cannabis are grown, as of now, they can continue to buy from illegal growers. "The back door remains ajar," noted CU MP Segers "But for how long then?" http://www.rd.nl/vandaag/politiek/wietwet-nog-voor-verkiezingen-door-kamer-1.1372236

MEDICAL
'The big question now is: what will happen to the home cultivation ?!--https://www.rollingstoned.nl/na-de-wietwet-wat-gebeurt-er-met-thuisteelt/
In the explanation writes Van Tongeren: "The petitioner believes that certain patients should be allowed by law to cultivate your own medicinal cannabis under strict conditions. More and more countries (including Australia and Germany) and Dutch municipalities (including Tilburg and Vlissingen) allow this, but medical home cultivation of cannabis regularly leads to evictions by landlords. An explicit legal basis to prevent this type of misunderstanding and enshrine the right to access to cannabis products.

'A majority of MPs now seem likely to back draft legislation from the Liberal democratic party D66 which would regulate legalised marijuana cultivation under government control. The bill, drawn up by MP Vera Bergkamp, was backed by Labour, GroenLinks, the Socialist and pro-animal PvdD. But now two MPs who left the anti-Islam PVV to form a breakaway right-wing party have said they too will support the measure, the AD said on Friday. Bergkamp hopes that introducing licenced marijuana production will remove the grey area between illegal cultivation and licenced cannabis cafes or coffee shops, where small amounts of marijuana can be bought for personal use. -- The Netherlands comes a step closer to legalised marijuana cultivation - http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2016/09/the-netherlands-comes-a-step-closer-to-legalised-marijuana-cultivation/

The most pronounced is the Pirate Party. The Pirates are not only for the regulation of the back door, but also carry home cultivation and industrial uses of hemp, a warm heart. They also believe that the government should no longer blinded by the THC percentage and more attention should have for the relationship between cannabinoids. It is clear that experts here have participated. - https://tk2017.piratenpartij.nl/2016/12/20/piratenpartij-denk-populair-cannabisliefhebber/

Monday, January 30, 2017

McLuhan & P.K Dick got here to this question of drugs and computers way earlier. I wish more people would pay attention to 'Understanding Media' and seeing drugs as another type of media, especially in the age of VR, AR and MR (Mixed reality) a cocktail of neurological affects delivered down the mainstream digital vein: internet.

--Steve Fly

"We now know that those iPads, smartphones and Xboxes are a form of digital drug. Recent brain imaging research is showing that they affect the brain’s frontal cortex — which controls executive functioning, including impulse control — in exactly the same way that cocaine does. Technology is so hyper-arousing that it raises dopamine levels — the feel-good neurotransmitter most involved in the addiction dynamic — as much as sex.

This addictive effect is why Dr. Peter Whybrow, director of neuroscience at UCLA, calls screens “electronic cocaine” and Chinese researchers call them “digital heroin.” In fact, Dr. Andrew Doan, the head of addiction research for the Pentagon and the US Navy — who has been researching video game addiction — calls video games and screen technologies “digital pharmakeia” (Greek for drug).

Monday, September 26, 2016

"What was most remarkable about the research is that the degree of ego dissolution reported by the participants correlated with a specific neural transformation. To get through the pragmatics of day-to-day life and the demands of survival, brain activity naturally differentiates itself into several distinct networks, each responsible for a particular cognitive function.

The three networks most closely examined by these scientists include a network for paying attention to what’s most salient, a network for problem-solving, and a network for reflecting on one’s own past and future. There is also a natural segregation between high-level (abstract) cognitive areas and low-level (concrete) perceptual areas, most notably the visual cortex. These distinctions are thought to be an essential design feature of a functional human brain.

The impact of LSD was to diminish connections within each of these networks, relaxing the bonds that kept them intact and distinct, while increasing the cross-talk among them. In other words, the normal etiquette of the brain requires segregation among networks that have different functions, and that etiquette was blown to bits.

Now most parts of the brain were communicating with most other parts of the brain. Concrete sensory experiences, like vision, intermingled with cognitive abstraction, and cognitive abstractions reshaped visual imagery. Perhaps that’s what explains the intricate fractal elaboration that people see in the branches of a bush while tripping on acid. The perception of salience and refinement of a sense of self are hashed together like potatoes and gravy. The brains and their owners no longer distinguish between what is most important, how to get stuff done, and who in fact is the arbiter of the importance of the stuff that needs to be done."--Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/15/lsd-research-brain-neuroscience-human-nature-psychedelic

Thursday, September 8, 2016

In the Great Reality Debate, battle is waged between headsets — Morpheus versus HoloLens, Vive versus Rift. Which device holds the key to our next "real" world? But what if the future of augmented and virtual reality does not rest on the success of a single piece of head-strapped hardware and instead is already in your pocket? John Hanke, founder of Niantic Labs, the innovative studio behind Ingress and pioneers of ”real world gaming,” will examine the future of augmented reality and its next big platform: the smartphone. John will examine AR rooted in enhancing mobile and location-based technology bridging the gap between the real and virtual worlds and how developers can harness it.Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/user/sxsw?sub_...About SXSW:Started in 1987, South by Southwest (SXSW) is a set of film, interactive, and music festivals and conferences that take place early each year in mid-March in Austin, Texas. SXSW’s original goal was to create an event that would act as a tool for creative people and the companies they work with to develop their careers, to bring together people from a wide area to meet and share ideas. That continues to be the goal today whether it is music, film or interactive technologies.Connect with SXSW Online:Visit the SXSW WEBSITE: http://www.sxsw.comLike SXSW on FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/SXSWFestivalFollow SXSW on TWITTER: http://www.twitter.com/SXSW

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About Me

Born in Wordsley 1976. Currently living in Amsterdam, making live music, recorded music, live literature and recorded writings. I like to collaborate and share, what do you do? Please comment and let me know.